My Atheist Friends, Help Me Understand

I read posts here that call different things, "harmful to humanity." Others call something, "good" or "bad" or "evil."

A very simple question, who gets to decide the definition of "harmful to humanity" and what is there critieria? The same for "good," "bad," and "evil?" These are not material terms. If everything is material isn't there just "is" and not these moral declarations if one is being thoroughly atheist?

Help me understand your position so I am fair and honest about the views. Thanks.

Replies to This Discussion

RE: "Situational ethics is a joke, isn't it? You either conform your behavior to a standard of some sort or you're just doing what you want to do, which isn't ethical behavior in any sense of the word."

No, it isn't. I will not, as mentioned above, step on a worm, but - depending on the situation (i.e., "situational ethics") - I will kill a man before I will allow him to kill me.

Much like Chewbacca, the word, "wrong," really isn't in your vocabulary, is it?

If you didn't want to kill the man for some overriding reason, you wouldn't kill him.

What do you mean "wrong" isn't in my vocabulary? I just used it in a sentence! And not just for the first time.

If you mean that I don't think anything is ever wrong, no I don't believe that. What I do believe is that nothing is ever really wrong in any kind of cosmic sense. Things are wrong in a way contingent on a time, a place, and person with a unique personal history.

I meant "conscience." thanks for pointing that out. I suspect, given the context, most people probably figured that out. I know that when I read another poster making a similar mistake, I end up understanding what they intended to say.

I'm sorry Lonely - I think you know me well enough by now, to know that I would never make fun of you because of the language barrier (despite what "Molly" might think), but I truly do not understand what you're saying. Could you possibly rephrase and repeat?

yes i know you well,so this morality if it is a concept inside us we easily relate to it in our judgement or our deeds,and as human we are defining our selves moral being how in the same time we did the wrong and we know that is wrong that's why ppl blame and feel regret if so this moral is in human built system and human is moral by nature.if not and this morality is from out side we learned it before or family obligation or social obligation so how could this morality easyly communicate with our conscience as if in side or inner and deep? can any person make a status for him self different to the what we called ethic or moral and he or she lives in peace with him or herself without what we called conscience blame him or feel regret or even sorry??i am asking to start the discussion not to make fan and you know me.

You are avoiding the difficult question, Lonely; what makes ethics/morality different than economics? How is what you just said any different than how a person feels about paying too high of a price for something? I mean they wanted it, so they bought it, but then later regretted what they paid because they know they paid too much. Did a god instill this sense of value in us?

Why do you have such difficulty seeing ethics/morality as a social construct?

One of the hardest things for a convert to atheism to give up is the notion that ethics, morality, right and wrong, are writ in the sky by God. Of course, they can't say they come from God but they cling to the notion that there is something objective and necessary about ethics and ethical judgments.